Huawei launches Matebook | Hacker News Reader

Huawei launches Matebook

consumer.huawei.com

63 pointsqkhhly55 comments

> With an innovative power saving mode that maximizes the use of an already impressive 33.7 Wh high-density lithium battery, you get hours of use on a single charge.

"Hours of use" on a single charge. That doesn't bode well.

It seems to say nine hours of video playback or 29 hours of music playback (screen off?), but that's an optimised use-case for most computers.

I would not describe this as the best product name. Hearing this, I wondered if it was some sort of Facebook-like dating site for people looking for serious matches.

Maybe it will do better in Australia and the UK :) [edit: Argentina is gonna love it too.]

Thought the same, and when I saw the actual product, it just felt like a ripoff of MacBook. MacBook, MateBook.

How is this a ripoff of a MacBook, of all things? It's far closer to a Surface Pro in its target audience and basic functionality (tablet, most notably).

I meant the name and the likeness to the MacBook name.

MacBook

MateBook

But there are also the Chromebook and Surface Book, so it`s hardly the only one going with this theme.

I'm not criticising the product, I just said it /felt/ like that.

And you know... how laptops were also referred to as notebooks decades ago.

Definitely, in fact as far back as 1988-89, but Apple called their "notebooks" Powerbooks starting in 1991 before anyone else was using -Book in the branding*

* as far as I can recall with the exception of Alan Kay who was dreaming up the future in 1972 and called it the DynaBook

Huawei has a very popular sub-brand for smart phones named 'Mate' (http://consumer.huawei.com/minisite/worldwide/mate8/). I guess that's why they are using Matebook for new laptops.

Funny, when glancing over the text quickly, my brain always seems to transform "Huawei MateBook" into some product by Apple; I'm guessing because of the i somewhat standing out at the end of 'Huawei' and then the 'MateBook' being so simiar to Macbook. It does look like a crossbreed between Surface Pro and iPad though, and not even a bad one.

I like how they did the finger print sensor on the side. I hope Microsoft does this in a future Surface, along with the RealSense camera for Windows Hello. Nice having two options. I still don't think any tablet has been able to compete with the Surface line in terms of how the keyboard and kickstand operate in tandem.

To me, this is more of an iPad Pro competitor than a Surface competitor. The one "problem" or "innovation," that I think Windows is going to bring with RedStone is "smart bezels" with continuum. The device is an infinity display but when you switch to tablet mode you get bezels and apps have access to create buttons in the bezel space (which I think Wacom users would adore.) I have a feeling that is coming soon. The issue there is where to stick the camera...but PixelSense has cameras built into the screen...I dunno.

Off topic, but I am really excited now where Windows tablets can go. I like that OEMs are stepping up their game.

Can anyone see the cost of this? I can't find it.

ArsTechnica says $699 for a Core M3, 4GB RAM, and 128GB SSD. Another $59 for the pen, $129 for the keyboard, and $89 for the USB adapter if you want USB/HDMI/VGA/Ethernet out of its single USB-C port.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/02/huawei-matebook-hands...

> With prices starting at $699/€799 (~£620) for a 128GB model with 4GB of RAM and a Core m3 processor, it's even cheaper than the competition too.

$699.

Whoops, thanks. Edited.

For comparison:

Surface Pro base model (specs look the same, though I didn't compare whether the M3 processor is identical) is $799 including the stylus. Keyboard is the same $130.

If you get the stylus but not the USB adapter, Huawei undercuts Microsoft by $40. IMO not significant enough to be a driving factor either way. I'd wait on someone to do an in-depth comparison of the digitizers before jumping on it.

If Huawei provides Linux support or it happens to come out of the box with zero driver issues on a mainline kernel, I can see many reasons why I would buy it. Battery life of course would be a factor.

I'm curious about how Linux drivers deal with the USB3 -> everything expansion box it comes with, for video/ethernet/etc. Not having any experience here, is it at all mature and just works or is it one of those stars-must-align cases?

Looks great to me! Very tempted to buy this. The new Surface book looks amazing but this beats it on price massively and it looks almost as good. Not sure on the specs though I think the surface book winds that game

Seems more like a competitor to the Surface 4, which is a lot cheeper then the Surface Book. Alone for the fact of the flimsy keyboard it can not be compared to a Surface Book or Macbook.

Looks like a combination of iPad with Surface cover.

Really wish they design something themselves someday.

The moment you find a piece of art, architecture, design, or such that doesn't borrow from the vernacular of the era, let us know.

Their watch is best in class IMO.

Different perspective Did apple just rip off Nokia with its "phone"?

Well, they DID get sued by Nokia for IP infringement, and lost. And has paid Nokia hundreds of millions of euros. So in the strictest legal sense, yes.

(Obviously when not being overly legalistic it is clear that Apple created an entirely new device with the iPhone, but it was built on a foundation that wasn't theirs to build on)

That lawsuit was because apple didn't pay the standard licensing fees for something Nokia owned, because Nokia was trying to charge more than they are allowed to (they wanted access to the iPhone patents as part of the deal). So apple decided to just go ahead, knowing they'd loose but the loss would be at the proper rate (plus lawyers fees).

The keyboard is much more like the iPad Pro's "Smart Keyboard" than the Surface's keyboard cover. Surface keyboard is just a keyboard (no foldy triangle), relies on the tablet's kickstand for the computer to stand up, and sits at an angle instead of flat on the table.

MateBook looks like an iPad with an iPad cover: http://www.apple.com/smart-keyboard/images/keyboard_social.j...

Surface with keyboard for reference: http://az648995.vo.msecnd.net/win/2015/11/SP4-launch.png

And keyboard comic for giggles: http://hijinksensue.com/comic/surface-tension/ [2012]

Except it has a touchpad which is a much more important similarity.

It's not really a design choice that Huawei made though, they're stuck with a trackpad as a necessity of the OS. Everywhere they had a decision to make about the design looks like either an iPhone or an iPad.

Yeah, but can I run Linux on it?

Yeah, but is this Slashdot?

Is that really only a Slashdot question?

If this was Slashdot, we'd be asking if you could imagine a beowulf cluster of these.

I would love to see how Gnome 3 would work on a device like this.

Or perhaps http://mate-desktop.org/

A valid question. I'm currently running Linux on a MacBook Pro for work, but it always seems like an uphill battle to get it installed. I'd like to have a PC laptop similar in form factor to this Matebook instead, but not if it's even harder to get Linux onto it than a MacBook.

The Matebook has actually the Surface Pro form factor - 12", 3:2 ratio, and cover keyboard.

Speaking of Linux compatibility, the Surface Pro 3, although one generation behind, is now suitable for daily usage (not perfect, but with deterministic behavior, and arguably acceptable limits).

It has a remarkable resemblance to the iPhone 6. It's shocking how little innovation exists these days.

Building a full PC into a tablet case with such a thin bezel is now "little innovation".

Yes, everyone's rushing to copy Apple, but I wonder if that's such a bad thing? The single-piece aluminum case turns out to be a wonderful design!

It's like an iPad-sized iPhone 6.

It's shocking how little innovation exists these days.

What "innovation" is necessary anyway? Rectangular boxes with touchscreens on them seem to fit most use-cases well enough. The fact that smartphones have all become similarly shaped also suggests that there isn't really a better shape these things could be.

No, it suggests that nobody wants to think about a better shape these things could be.

Yeah, I would want my next laptop to be oval. Much better ergonomics IMO.

It's not the shape that people are looking at. It's the materials, chamfers, finishes, and marketing images.

Cause innovation is all about design.

There has also been shockingly little innovation in the rhetoric employed by rabid Apple fans over the decades.

The proof is in the pudding: http://imgur.com/a/gwT3V

I thought Apple patented the round corners/edges [1], so is Huawei paying royalty to Apple?

[1]: http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/7/3614506/apple-patents-rect...

Aren't Chinese companies exempt from that type of thing on account of the culture of mimicry there?

I remember hearing about a phone with force touch being sold there but not in the US, might end up being similar

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